Book Review: Moonraker's Bride by Madeleine Brent

When I was a teenager my mum belonged to a book club and, as I loved reading, I would quite often pick up her books. Because of this I was introduced to the writing of Madeleine Brent.  I loved them even though they were, as far as I could tell, fairly formulaic.

Brent's books always seem to start in an exotic location where a plucky female heroine lives. Always on the edge of society, the heroine both belongs and yet is an outsider. Usually a mysterious stranger enters her life and she must leave the familiar surroundings of her present life for the half remembered world of Victorian England. Mystery, intrigue and romance follow until, at last, she must return to the scene of her former life to solve the puzzle and discover her true love. The books then end happily ever after.

It may seem that I am making fun of Brent's work but that is not the case. I also must confess that I haven't read all the author's works so I may be doing them an injustice. Nevertheless, as a youth I read them because I knew what to expect and enjoyed them. The writing itself never failed to grip me with a strong action driven plot, despite the fact that these were, as far as I was aware, romantic fiction. Brent always seemed to have done some excellent historical research for the background to the books, and the heroines were always strong characters.

In the case of Moonraker's Bride the plucky heroine is Lucy Waring. Daughter of missionary parents, she was orphaned due to disease and, as she grows up, she is left to run the Chinese orphanage where she was raised, and look after the elderly and ailing Miss Prothero. The only reminder of her old life is a sketch of a splendid English house; Moonraker's. One day an English stranger comes into her little village with a riddle and a warning but leaves as quickly as he arrives.

With no money, and little food, to feed the orphans, Lucy resolves to go into town and steal something. She gets caught and thrown into the grim prison of Chengfu, where she meets another English man. This is, in fact, the very man she was warned about earlier, and he asks her the same riddle as the other Englishman. He is, however, due to be executed. Lucy agrees to marry him and in return he gives her enough money to bribe her way out of jail and feed the orphans.

Returning to the orphanage she discovers that Miss Prothero has died but new missionaries have arrived. They pack Lucy off to England where she discovers the real Moonraker's, but also finds she is involved in a bitter feud between two families. The key to that feud is the riddle she heard in China. Danger and intrigue follow her and, eventually, she finds she must return to the orphanage to solve the puzzle. However, China is being torn apart by the Boxer Rebellion and it is a dangerous time to be a foreigner. Nevertheless, in the time of greatest danger she discovers the man she truely loves.

Browsing my mother's bookshelves as an adult I found this book again and reread it. Just as in my youth I found it an excellent read. The twists in the plot kept on coming and, despite having read it before, I still found it engrossing. The author manages to keep the reader guessing which of the men in Lucy's life is the villain and which the hero until nearly the end when all is revealed. Yes, the stories are formulaic, but it does mean I know I'll enjoy any of Brent's books I come across.

I discovered while writing this that Madeleine Brent was the female pseudonym of writer Peter O'Donnell, famous for his Modesty Blaiseseries.

Book Review: The Hangman's Daughter

My wife downloaded The Hangman's Daughter for her new Kindle and, after reading it, spent ages convincing me that I would enjoy this book.

The story is set in the small Bavarian town of Schongau in 1660. The body of a young boy is pulled from the river with a strange mark on his shoulder and immediately the cry of 'witchcraft' goes up. Remembering the witch hunt of seventy years earlier, which decimated the town's female population, the town elders are keen to stop a repeat of that terrible event.

Martha Stechlin, the local midwife, is quickly accused of being a witch and imprisoned. She is charged with the murder of the boy but insists on her innocence. Jacob Kuisl, the town Hangman, is ordered to extract a confession from Martha by torturing her.

However Kuisl is unwilling to carry out his duties as he is convinced of the midwife's innocence. With the help of his daughter and Simon Fronweiser, the son of the town physician, he sets out to solve the mystery surrounding the young boy.

As more children start turning up dead with the same strange mark on their bodies, the hysteria in the town increases, and there are even reports that the Devil has been sighted. Kuisl, his daughter, Magdalene, and Fronweiser find themselves engaged in a race against time to solve the puzzle before the town erupts into violence.

It is clear that the midwife is innocent from quite early on, despite the occasional red herring that suggesting otherwise. What kept me engrossed was that it became apparent that even if Kuisl provided clear evidence that she was innocent it might not be enough to save her. She has been chosen as the scapegoat by the town elders and her guilt or innocence is irrelevant. The only thing that can save her is for Kuisl to unmask the real villains.

One criticism that some people have had of the book is that Magdalena, the hangman's daughter of the title, is not actually a major character in the book.  She and the physician's son are part of a romantic subplot, but she herself does not make her presence felt until the last few chapters. Although this is a justified criticism it is a very minor point.

This is a very entertaining historical novel and my wife was right, I really did enjoy it. The historical background is described in enough detail to maintain interest and Jacob Kuisl is a complex and interesting hero who is treated with sympathy by the author, despite his trade. Unsurprising when you learn that the Kuisl family really existed and form part of the author's family tree.

Overall, I would recommend this book, especially if you are keen on historical fiction. It is not a murder mystery in the mold of The Name Of The Rose and aficionados of the genre might be disappointed, nevertheless, I found it an enjoyable read.

If you would like to read The Hangman's Daughter, you can purchase a copy at Amazon alternatively, if you have a Kindle you can download a copy here.